Monday, September 3, 2018

The
annual film festival held at Cannes, France, since 1946 famously ‘Cannes International Film Festival ‘ previews
new films of all genres, including documentaries, from around the world. The invitation-only festival is held annually
(usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. For the festival held in 2014,. New Zealand
film director Jane Campion was the President of the Jury. Winter Sleep, the film directed by Turkish director
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, won the Palme d'Or. The 68th edition of the festival is
currently on. Joel and Ethan Coen have been announced as
the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It is the first time that two people will
chair the jury. French actor Lambert
Wilson has been announced as the host for the opening and closing ceremonies.

The
festival poster features Hollywood star and Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman,
photographed by David Seymour. The poster was chosen to pay tribute to Bergman for
her contributions to films and who also served as the Jury President at 1973
Cannes Film Festival. ‘Standing Tall’, directed by Emmanuelle Bercot, was announced
as the festival's opening film. This will be the second opening film in the
festival's history to have been directed by a woman. French film director Agnès Varda will be
presented with the honorary Palme d'Or at the festival's closing ceremony. She
is also the first female filmmaker to ever receive the award.

Here is a sidestep
- Cannes Film Festival has come under fire after
reports women were turned away from a red carpet screening for wearing flat
shoes instead of heels. The women
- some of whom were said to be older with medical conditions - were attending
the world premiere of Cate Blanchett's new film Carol. Screen Daily said the
festival had confirmed heels were obligatory for women at red carpet
screenings. However the director of the festival said the "rumours"
were "unfounded". Screen Daily first reported the story, after a
"Cannes regular" told them how a woman wearing Rhinestone-encrusted
flat shoes was denied entry. A spokesperson for the festival confirmed to the
BBC that rules have not changed
throughout the years – there is mention of formal dress but nothing on the
height of the women's heels as well as for men's. The story provoked widespread outrage on
Twitter, where the head of film at the SXSW festival, Janet Pierson, tweeted a
link to the story with the words: "Why I don't go to Cannes". The festival said
it had made efforts to address the gender imbalance between male and female
directors this year, despite only two female directors being in competition.

In confirmation of
the code, MailOnline reported that an amputee was turned away from Cannes red
carpet for not wearing high heels. It is
reported that Amputee film producer Valeria Richter was stopped four times and
told 'you can't get in like this' as she tried to get into the screening. Astonishingly, officials scrutinised her
footwear despite the fact part of her left foot is amputated and she is unable
to keep her balance in heels. Richter told BBC 5 Live she was separately
questioned by four different officials as she attempted to make her way to the
screening of Gus Van Sant's The Sea of Trees.
Eventually she was allowed into the movie screening, but claimed many of
her colleagues not wearing heels were rejected and not allowed in.

The Guardian wrote
on ‘red carpet’ rules - first, Croisettiquette declared that selfies were
banned on the red carpet. At that point, we were sort of on board, because
selfies are a bit naff, even though it is a bit snooty and French and annoying
of them to make a fussy old law about it. But then, on Saturday night, female
guests were denied entry to the premiere of Carol, starring Cate Blanchett,
because they were in flats. Festival organiser Thierry Frémaux has denied that
there is a Cannes ban on flats. Good news, Monsieur Frémaux, because if there
was, it would be (a) idiotic (b) wildly out of touch, in a season when
exquisite flat shoes are a catwalk-approved chic eveningwear option and (c ) so
clearly not What Cate Would Do. Last year, Blanchett wore flat gold sandals
with a ruffled, floor-length Chloé white gown on the Women in Film red carpet,
and looked awesome. So, postmodern caveat to these red-carpet fashion lessons:
sometimes the red carpet gets it wrong.

Opinions
differ. Etiquette expert William Hanson
is quoted as saying – no one is bigger than the dress code and that all hosts have a right to enforce a dress code.
He
argues that by accepting an invite you agree to comply to certain rules. According to this report, flat-shoed women
were informed they were breaking the dress code, which is (and always has been)
Black Tie. This 'new' rule has caused outrage from some attendees and now the
wider world. The French are, of course, known for their somewhat stroppy
attitude, so perhaps some of the initial consternation stems from the manner in
which festival officials may have informed the rule-breaking guests (I doubt it
was done with much attention to tact).

Etiquette expert
William Hanson argues - there needn't be
any argument or lost sleep over the issue. The dress code for Cannes is evening
dress (aka Black Tie). For men this requires a dinner jacket and a black bow
tie; for women an evening dress and heels. A flat shoe is a more casual,
daytime piece and just not appropriate for a formal affair. A heel does make the wearer's legs look a lot
better than a flat shoe ever could. Trust me, I know. It elongates the leg and
improves the walk, making both the shoe and the person wearing it look far more
attractive. Flats can just encourage those with poor gaits to plod along,
flat-footed. The
guests will have known about the dress code from past years, word of mouth,
photos in magazines, and general convention (not to mention the invitation!).
If you don't like the dress code, don't go.

Emily Blunt criticised Cannes officials for
insisting on heels ~ but the actress was
spotted wearing them herself on the red carpet of premier of Sicario....

William
Hanson’s advices are quoted in dailies. First you have to find a pair that fits
and are moderately comfortable. Heels should really never be over four inches;
unless you’re attending a party where ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ is the dress
code. Generally, it is lower heels for daytime, higher for evening. Too many
women think they will look sexier the higher the heel. Wrong. Roll your shoulders quite far back, imagine
you are pushing them over a garden fence and back down the other side. Your
hands should be behind the seam of your trousers/skirt and your chin should be
parallel to the floor. As you walk, imagine you are walking down an invisible
straight line. We don’t want to look like we’re on a catwalk, placing one foot
directly in front of the other !

With
any form of gathering you must look like you have made an effort, if not you
run the risk of offending the host and other guests who all have put in the
work and mileage to make the party an occasion.
Whether Cannes stick to their rules may not be great news to us ....
this one only makes some interesting read !